Growing Apart
by Genesic
Summary: One-shot. Mawari feels that she's growing apart from Nagasumi as time goes on, and that he'd be better off without her. Is she right, or does Nagasumi think differently?


I don't own Seto no Hanayome, but sometimes, when I dream, I still don't own it.

--

This is a one-shot, set right after the class excursion(you know the one).

* * *

The setting sun brilliantly illuminated the city's buildings. The golden light in which they were bathed in made them appear as if in a beautiful dream.

From the cracks of her window's shutters, she looked at this beautiful sight. Watching this scene would always bring her mind to peace, but today was different. No matter how she stared at the setting sun, she couldn't clear the feeling from her stomach.

"....What's the matter with me?" Mawari sighed sorrowfully, walking away from the view to instead sit on the bed. "Why can't I stop feeling this way?" She asked herself.

It was ridiculous, feeling so awful like this, she had just gotten back from a trip after all! But no matter how much fun it was, it had all seemed to fade on the trip back.

The mystery wasn't what caused this feeling, it was why it was so hard to make it go away. She knew plenty well what was causing this feeling: Michishio Nagasumi, or more specifically; Michishio Nagasumi and Seto San.

"It wasn't even that big of a deal!" She growls, recalling the ride back into Saitama.

It had seemed totally normal at first, the ride back, they had just sat their and laughed with each other. She had sat next to the Class President, and across from Nagasumi and San. For nearly the whole length of the trip, they had just enjoyed their usual antics, but it was near the end that the problem came.

The whole class was tired from all the events of the trip, even Mawari herself was beginning to drift off. It was just when she was about to close her eyes that she noticed the problem: San and Nagasumi had both already fall asleep, both leaned against each other with a serene smile on their face.

After that, she hadn't been able to sleep at all for the rest of the ride.

It wasn't anything big! People fall asleep like that sometimes! It's just natural! No matter how many times she told herself that, something about the way they looked dug right into her.

What made it even worse was the events that happened _during_ the school trip. The way Nagasumi had spoken to her at the hotel, his words still made her heart flutter nervously. But nothing had happened after that, he tried to pretend as if it didn't happen.

"Why does it have to be him?" She practically sobbed out. She had no confusion as to why she had the feelings; she was in love with Nagasumi, and had been for a long time. She hadn't come to the realization until a little while ago, but she was certain of it ever since.

She'd probably loved him even longer than she thought. Ever since they were children, they'd had a special relationship. Her righteousness always led her into deep trouble, and he'd always be the one risking himself to get her out of it. He claimed she was just dangerous for him, but he'd never fail to show up, not even one time.

"I haven't ever really done anything besides cause him trouble, have I?" She asked, as if hoping for someone to suddenly answer, and tell her that she was wrong. She screwed her eyes shut, trying to think of a time where she hadn't caused him problems.

--

"_Hey you! Quit bullying him!" A much younger Mawari shouted, leaping towards the abnormally large boy, foot extended into a kick._

"_Oof!" The school bully grunted in surprise at the foot in his face. He turned to face Mawari, no longer caring about the small boy running away from him at full speed._ _"You're going to pay for that, midget!" He shouted in anger, balling up his fist._

_Mawari watched the fleeing boy disappear from her sight, disregarding her for his own safety. She couldn't help but frown at this, it always happened like this. But her attention was quickly diverted to the boy in front of her, of whom she finally noticed his enormous size. "B-Bring it on you criminal! Justice won't lose to the likes of you!" She shouted, doing her best to hide her growing fear._

"_Shut up already!" The boy shouted, swinging his enormous fist towards the much smaller girl._

_Mawari couldn't help but close her eyes in fear, preparing for the pain._

"_Nagasumi Barrier!" A shrill voice shouted. From seemingly nowhere, Nagasumi darted out in an attempt to block the attack. He succeeded, but ended up taking the blow with his face instead of his hands. "....Th-That hurt..." He squeaked out, trying to pick himself up from the ground._

"_Nagasumi!" Mawari shouted, forgetting the bully immediately. "Are you okay!?" She shouted, helping him up from the ground._

"_...Just p-peachy." He coughed out, slowly getting to his feet._

"_Darn, the teacher's coming." The bully cursed, turning to leave. "You're dead next time, you two!" He shouted._

"_We'll be waiting!" Mawari shouted angrily at the bully, barely supporting the shaky Nagasumi._

"_Wh-Why me too...?" Nagasumi muttered quietly, marveling at his own luck._

_The moment was interrupted by the arriving teacher. Nagasumi and Mawari were both scolded, and forced to sit outside for a while during class._

_Nagasumi had a large frown on his face, holding an ice-pack up to his left cheek. "Honestly..." He muttered. "You always get me into trouble, you know?" He pointed at Mawari._

"_I'm sorry," She apologized, "But I just can't let things like this go." She explained, as if it were common sense. "Besides, I know you'll always come and save me. Just like you did today." She smiled at him happily._

_Nagasumi frowned in return. "Can't you find someone else to do it? I'm tired of always getting beat up, or scolded, or chased by dogs." He groaned._

"_But we've always been together like this, for as long as I can remember." Mawari smiled. "Besides..." She turned her eyes downward, "Nobody else ever helps; they either run away, or say that I'm too dangerous._" _She gave a small sniffle, trying to hide it._

"_...." Nagasumi fell silent, staring at Mawari. A quick inner battle was waged in his head, and the answer quickly came to mind, however much he wished he could choose another. "Fine then," he ruffled his hair in frustration, "If it's that important to you, Mawari, then I promise to always be there to help you." He offered her a smile._

_Mawari looked up quickly, wiping a tear from one of her eyes. "Really? Forever?" She asked._

"_Forever." He answered back, offering his pinky to seal the promise with._

"_It's okay, I know you mean it." She smiled, turning down the promise. "Nagasumi doesn't lie when it comes to things like this." She chuckled._

"_Cut it out, or I'll take it back." He groaned, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment._

"_Thanks, Nagasumi." She smiled, giving him a tight hug._

"_No pro-! Watch the cheek! Watch the cheek!" He shouted in pain._

_--  
_

Mawari giggled at the memory, but it gradually began to give the opposite effect. "I really have caused him nothing but trouble." She sighed, feeling lower than ever.

In the end, she opted to go to sleep, hoping it would all be better in the morning. She couldn't forget the thought though; _It'd be better for him to be with someone who can make him smile._

_--  
_

The next day was no better. In times of crisis, she would usually focus on upholding the law, but this time she had no will to do any of that. Her whistle dangled back and forth, swinging from her neck solemnly.

As soon as she walked into the room, she spotted him. It was hard not to tell it was him, his signature antenna-hair bobbing a bit above everyone else.

She took a deep breath. "Nagasumi..." She spoke out to him, hoping that a talk would help her clear things up.

He quickly turned around, picking up the tone in her voice. "Mawa-RI!!" He shouted suddenly, ducking as something flew over his head, and stuck into the wall.

"Sorry Nagasumi. My hand slipped while I was grading the papers." Gouzaburou, the teacher, said in an overly-innocent voice.

"Quite a slip!" Nagasumi growled back. "And how were you grading the papers with **this**!? Not very qualified, are we!?" He smirked, pulling the old looking dagger from the wall.

The two glared at each other, lightning practically shooting from their eyes.

Mawari sighed, apparently talking was out of the question for now. She sat at her desk, and did her best to pay attention.

"How are you today, Omawari?" San asked, using her usual nickname(it had become habit) for Mawari, during break, an innocent smile on her face.

San was the person Mawari least wanted to see or talk to at the moment. She didn't dislike San; San was a great person, and a great friend; but she couldn't help but carry some spite at the moment. "I'm fine." She lied. "And it's just Mawari, San."

The rest of school carried on in a somewhat similar fashion; whenever she attempted to talk to Nagasumi, something happened. He would be pulled away by Luna for some demeaning task, attacked by one of his many enemies, or be busy talking with San. And sometimes, she just lost the nerve to get his attention.

--

"I hate this." She sighed to herself, walking the path from school to her house. An entire day had gone by, and not a single thing had been accomplished.

"Is this how things are going to be?" She asked herself. Was this how her life would continue on? Permanently estranged? She was just going to have to move on with her life! She would focus on surpassing her father in becoming chief of police, she would part ways with Nagasumi, she would eventually reach her goal, Nagasumi would be happy with San, she wouldn't see Nagasumi anymore, ....Nagasumi and San would get married, and then....she'd be alone.

She halted mid-step, a sudden tight pain in her chest. "....I don't want that." She gave a strangled sob, and her tears slowly began to fall to the ground below. She didn't want things to go like that! She didn't want to part ways, or to be forgotten!

After what seemed like hours(the real scope was only a few minutes), she finally managed to stop herself from crying. She began to continue the walk home. Her feet felt heavy as lead, her stomach queasy as if she were on a boat at sea.

_We're probably....growing apart already. We're not like we used to be._

"Quit it!" A scream brought Mawari back into reality. A rather large male( who looked awfully similar to someone she had seen before) held a girl, around Mawari's age, tightly by the wrist.

"I'm just asking for a date! Quit being so stubborn!" The young man growled, pulling the girl towards him forcefully.

Mawari's body acted before her mind did, leaping towards the man with an outstretched leg.

"Ugh! What the hell's your problem!" The man shouted, rubbing his cheek. "You better be ready to compensate me for that!" He grinned, a frightening look in his eyes.

"Quiet you criminal! Do you want me to teach you the rules of society!?" She shouted, her previous feelings causing her to be reckless. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out her cell-phone. "With just a press of this button, I can call the poli-!" She was surprised, as the man suddenly moved forward, and knocked the phone away with a quick hit.

"You were saying?" The man snickered, slowly walking forward.

Mawari gulped, cursing her own stupidity. Something like this wouldn't have happened if this was any other day.

The man quickly gripped her arm, pulling her towards him. "There we go." He laughed.

Mawari struggled as hard as she could, but the mans grip was too strong. She suddenly realized how bad this was, she was terrified. _Somebody, help me._ She thought.

"Come on now." The man laughed again, now fully enjoying the moment.

Mawari knew it was useless, nobody was coming to help. Everybody who walked by quickly left, to busy fearing for their own safety. _Please, help me._ She wished he was here, like he always was before, but that was a foolish wish. He was surely at home by now, enjoying dinner with his parents, and San.

"Now, now, I promise to take good care of you." The man flashed a disgusting grin.

_Please, I need you. Please come. _Despite her thoughts, she opened her mouth to cry out. "Na-!"

"Nagasumi barrier!" An all-too-familiar voice shouted. Although, instead of a barrier, Nagasumi landed a strong punch into the large man's face. "Are you okay, Mawari!?" He asked, quickly helping Mawari up, eyes filled with concern.

"N...Nagasumi..." Mawari muttered in awe, still wondering if this was real. "Y-You came..." She mumbled slowly.

"Honestly, trust you to do something reckless like this." He scolded. "You always drag me into trouble, you know?" He sighed.

"S-Sorry." Mawari stuttered, lowering her head.

Nagasumi sighed. "But more importantly, don't do these kinds of things on your own. You'll make me worry myself to death over you!" He patted her head gently.

"...Huh?" Mawari asked, expecting to wake from this dream at any second.

"I mean... I'd rather get into some trouble myself, than for you to be hurt over something like this. So, just don't go doing these things alone, okay?" He mumbled awkwardly, an embarrassed blush on his face.

"...Yeah." Mawari nodded slowly.

"Shit...that hurt!" The behemoth of a man groaned, rubbing nursing his cheek tenderly.

"More importantly, let's get out of here!" Nagasumi shouted, pulling her away by the hand.

They continued to run until they were quite a ways away from their earlier location; Nagasumi pulling Mawari along, Mawari going along with him in a confused state.

"Alright, I think we're safe." Nagasumi panted, trying to catch his breath.

Mawari, who was also panting, stared at Nagasumi, finally snapping out of her daze. "How did you even know where I was?" She asked.

"...Well....you see," He mumbled nervously, "I kind of, followed you after school."

Mawari's face suddenly heated up. He followed her? Did that mean he saw everything? "Stalking can get you in jail for a long time." She growled, face flushed.

"S-s-sorry!" He shouted in fear, believing she might actually report him. "It's just that, you didn't seem like yourself today." He explained.

"Huh?" Her train of thought was de-railed once more. He noticed that she wasn't feeling well? She had hardly been near him! And wasn't he too busy with everything else to have time to notice that?

"You had this sad look on your face all day, and you never blew your whistle even once." He said, pointing towards her whistle. "We're childhood friends, something big like this wouldn't slip by me." He chuckled. He walked over to her, looking her straight in the eyes. "So then, it may seem blunt, but what's wrong, Mawari?" He **had** seen her crying earlier, and it had him deeply worried.

Despite being overjoyed from his statement, the question dropped Mawari's spirits once more. "...You don't need someone like me, do you?" She whispered, staring at her feet.

"What?" Nagasumi asked, genuinely shocked. "What are you talking about?"

"Even just now, you could've gotten hurt because I was too reckless!" She was suddenly shouting, staring straight into his eyes.

"Mawari..."

"I dive into things without thinking, without considering how it could hurt _you_!" She shouted. "You help me whenever I have a problem, but I do nothing but cause you trouble!" Small crystalline tears fell from her eyes now.

Suddenly, he was angry, quickly walking over to her. "Is that really what you think!?" He growled. "Do you really think you're that worthless, or that horrible of a person!?" He shook his head vigorously. "You get into these situations because you want to help people. Is that a bad quality? I respect the Mawari that risks her own safety for others!"

"...." Mawari gave a small gasp, her eyes open wide.

"And you don't cause me nothing but trouble. You've always been somebody I knew I could depend on." His glare was suddenly a smile. In one quick movement(a very bold one on his part), he pulled her into a comforting embrace.

Mawari felt the rush of blood to her face, glad that it was currently hidden in Nagasumi's chest. "Nagasumi." She choked.

"Besides: Even if you _did_ cause me nothing but trouble, I made a promise to always bail you out, remember?"

She felt a jolt of surprise run through her body. So he remembered too, that promise he made. "Nagasumi." She repeated, reciprocating the hug. She gave another sniffle, and then began to lightly cry.

Nagasumi blushed in embarrassment, and almost let go by reflex, but instead chose to just remain silent.

"All better now?" He asked, when she was finally done.

"Yeah, thank you, Nagasumi." Mawari smiled, a slight tint on her cheeks.

"D-Don't hesitate to come talk to me if you ever have any other problems." He stuttered, stricken by the beauty of the smile on her face.

"Of course, and the same goes for you." She laughed, pointing at him. "I get the feeling you're hiding a lot from me."

"O-of course not! I'll make sure to tell you!" He stuttered again, for a different reason this time. _I'd tell you if I could. I'd tell the whole world if I could *sob*_

"Well then, please continue to take care of me from now on." Mawari bowed, still smiling brightly.

"The same goes for me." Nagasumi bowed in return.

"I've got to go home now, see you tomorrow, Nagasumi!" Mawari waved, dashing away quickly.

"Alright then!" Nagasumi shouted back.

"Oh!" Mawari turned around for a second. "And tell San: "I won't lose to you."!" She smiled, before running out of sight.

"Won't...lose?" Nagasumi wondered aloud. "Why does she want me to tell San that?" Suddenly he froze up. "Oh no! I left without telling San where I was going! What if she's still waiting at school!?" He shouted in panic. "I'm coming, San!" He shouted, running off towards the school.

--

"I feel so much better now!" Mawari gave a sigh of relief, falling back onto her bed.

The sunlight came brightened the room thoroughly, the shutters now fully open. Even her room looked like a beautiful painting to her at the moment, the golden light filling it with a warm presence.

She paused for a moment, just thinking about the events of the day. "Ah, it's too embarrassing!" She suddenly laughed, squirming around energetically. "I was too foolish earlier. I can't just give up like that!" She giggled again.

"Wow, I'm beat." She suddenly felt the mental fatigue's effects on her body. "I'm glad that it's all over with." She yawned, pulling the covers over her body.

"...Thank you, ....Nagasumi." She mumbled, her eyes closing.

_And....I love you, Nagasumi._

_-_

_-_

_-_

_--  
_

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Nagasumi shouted, rapidly dancing out of the way of high powered water-bullets.

"Sorry ain't enough from someone like you, Sea-louse!" Maki shouted angrily, firing lethal-blasts one after another at him. "How dare you make San wait for someone like you!"

"I said I was sorry! San! Where are you!?" A stone wall crumbled right behind Nagasumi's head.

"And now you're asking for her help!? You can just die!!"

"Somebody, help me!!!~"

* * *

Ah, this one was fun to write, so very fun.

It's my first time posting a story in this section, so I hope this is okay.

I was sad to find out that this such a great series had so little fanfiction, especially when compared to other series which are less deserving. So, I decided to make a contribution myself, for whatever that's worth. I'd like to make another one too, but I'm not sure if I can do it right away.

No offense to San, but Mawari's my favorite girl character(I always pick the one destined to lose T-T). Not to mention that San/Nagasumi were the only couple that I saw(Well, one OC, and a poem that I think was about Luna) on here.

Seto no Hanayome is somewhat difficult to keep in character though. I feel that even though I tried my hardest, this came off as too serious of a story. Regardless, it felt incredibly good to look at the finished project. I hope you think so as well.

This story can either be viewed as mutual love, or one-sided if you wish. I personally prefer to think of it as mutual, but I think it's perfectly fine the other way too. I'd like to hear what version the reader prefers of it though too.

I know this section is small, but I'd be overjoyed at those who took the time to drop in a review for this story. I'd also be happy if any other fans of this series would write a story for it too, it's fun writing in a section where the resources are still untapped. I know I'm not that great of a writer, but I enjoy constructive criticism too. Also, reviews would probably motivate me to make another story too(hint hint).

Well with all that said, I hope to see you again soon.


End file.
